USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS BULLSHIT link title The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was a ''Constitution'' class starship launched in 2245, being the first Federation starship to bear the name. The Enterprise was primarily designed for space exploration and had 14 science labs. It acquired fame under the five-year mission of Captain James T. Kirk (2265-2270). During its lifetime the Enterprise underwent several upgrades, the most substantial taking place between 2270 and 2273, when almost every major system was replaced, and the entire hull structure rebuilt from the ground up. The ship was destroyed in 2285 in orbit of the Genesis Planet by James T. Kirk, in order to prevent its capture by Klingon forces. The vessel was due to be decomissioned at the time of its loss. History Constructed at San Francisco Fleet Yards and lauched in 2245 U.S.S. Enterprise was one of twelve Constitution class starships commissioned by UESPA to be built for Starfleet. Her first five year mission was commanded by Captain Robert April, succeeded by Captain Christopher Pike, Captain James T. Kirk, and briefly by Captain Spock during the ship's duty as a training vessel. Pike's two five-year missions (2250-63) Captain Christopher Pike commanded the Enterprise on two five-year missions prior to his promotion to Fleet Captain in 2263. His science officer, Spock, would be the only member of the crew to remain aboard during the starship's existence. Kirk's five-year mission (2265-70) The Enterprise achieved true fame under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, though his five-year mission had a less-than-auspicious start. One of the ship's earliest undertakings was an exploration of the edge of the galaxy, where the ship encountered the galactic barrier on stardate 1312. The encounter with the barrier resulted in the death of several of the Enterprise crew, including Gary Mitchell, Lee Kelso, and Elizabeth Dehner. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") In 2266, on stardate 1709, the Enterprise was instrumental in preventing a war between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. When a Romulan bird-of-prey crossed the Romulan Neutral Zone and destroyed several Earth Outpost Stations, Captain Kirk barely managed to outwit the enemy commander and stop his vessel from returning to Romulus and reporting on the Federation's weakness. (TOS: "Balance of Terror") In 2267, on stardate 3417, the entire crew of the Enterprise barring Captain Kirk mutinied while under the influence of alien spores at Omicron Ceti III. His entire crew having beamed down to the Omicron colony, Kirk nearly joined them but was able to overcome the influence of the spores and free Spock from them as well. Together, the two rigged a subsonic transmitter to destroy the spores all across the planet, causing a contrite crew to return to duty. (TOS: "This Side of Paradise") The refit of 2270-73 During Captain Kirk's original five year mission, the Enterprise had become the recognized symbol for Starfleet and the Federation in general. The Enterprise's ship symbol was adopted by Starfleet to recognize this. Following its return to Earth, the vessel was scheduled to be decommissioned and disassembled. But, the historic starship was given a reprieve. She was twenty-five years old and her onboard technology was outdated. It quickly became obvious that only a major refit could keep Enterprise at the forefront of the fleet. What began as an engineering refit evolved into a redesign of the entire vessel. This created many major changes in the ship's appearance and led to the development of several new shipboard systems. These included the installation of a new bridge module and the channeling of phaser power through the warp drive, and a small egress bay at the base of the saucer where crewmembers could engage in EVA maneuvers as necessary. Also, several docking hatches were installed at key points on the ship where travel pods could quickly drop off or pick up personnel. Captain Willard Decker oversaw the refit, but did not command the ship in active duty. The Enterprise was rushed into active service in response to the V'Ger crisis. Incomplete systems had to be serviced en route. Decker was temporarily demoted to commander and served as science officer because of his familiarity with the new systems. Final Days By 2285, the Enterprise had been assigned to Starfleet Academy as a training vessel. During a minor training cruise, a situation arose at the Regula I space laboratory, and the Enterprise was called into active service under the captaincy of Admiral Kirk. Before the Enterprise arrived at Regula I, she encountered the USS Reliant. Unknown to the Enterprise crew at the time, the Reliant had been commandeered by Khan Noonien Singh, who had been exiled to Ceti Alpha V some 18 years previously. Khan was bent on revenge, and lured the Enterprise into a trap, firing on her with her shields down. The phaser fire from the Reliant ripped into the Engineering Hull, causing massive amounts of damage, taking the Warp core offline in addition to killing and wounding several cadets. Kirk retalliated, using his superior knowledge of starships to overcome his adversary. Eventually, the rivalry between the two culminated in a battle in the Mutara nebula. More damage was dealt out to the Enterprise, destroying her port torpedo bay. However, with his experience and superior tactical knowledge, Kirk dealt a crippling blow to the Reliant, destroying her torpedo launchers and ripping off a nacelle. With the battle won, the Enterprise returned to spacedock, where the crew believed the ship would undergo a refit. However, Starfleet Commander Morrow informed the crew that the Enterprise was to be decommissioned. He cited the damage too great, and the ship's age too old, to justify the expenditure. The Enterprise was, by this point, 40 years old (twice the recommended age to retire starships from service), and sat in the shadow of the USS Excelsior, waiting to be decommissioned. Admiral Kirk's insistence on returning to the Genesis Planet to retrieve Captain Spock resulted in a warning from Commander Morrow, and a refusal to allow Kirk to take the Enterprise out again. Kirk disobeyed a direct order from Morrow, and with his trusted friends, promptly stole the Enterprise from Spacedock. Starfleet ordered the USS Excelsior to pursue, but thanks to some previous intervention on the part of Mr Scott, it was rendered adrift. Upon reaching the Genesis planet, the Enterprise discovered a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Before the Bird-of-Prey could fully decloak, the Enterprise fired two torpedoes directly at her underbelly. As a precautionary measure, Kirk ordered the shields to be raised, but the Automation Center was overloaded, as Mr Scott had not intended to take the ship into battle. The Bird-of-Prey came about and fired a single shot at the Enterprises saucer section, knocking out the Automation Centre completely. The Enterprise was a sitting duck, but thanks to some cunning on Kirk's part, he tricked the Klingons into beaming aboard the deserted Enterprise immediately after he and his crew transported to the surface of Genesis. Before leaving his ship for the very last time, Kirk, Scotty and Chekov enabled the self-destruct with a 60 second countdown. The Klingon boarding party, led by Torg, reached the bridge of the deserted enterprise, just as the countdown reached zero. The bridge exploded, and the ships saucer section began to disintegrate until finally, the saucer exploded, sending the ship spiralling into the atmosphere of the Genesis world. Crew * List of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel Commanding officers * Captain Robert April (Took command in 2245) * Captain Christopher Pike (CO for 11 years) * Captain James T. Kirk (2265-70) * Captain Willard Decker (2270-73, during refit in dry dock) * Admiral James T. Kirk (By order of Starfleet Command, in response to the V'Ger Crisis. 2273) * Captain Spock (CO until 2285) Command crew on Kirk's five-year-mission * commanding officer ** Captain James T. Kirk * executive and science officer ** Commander Spock * chief engineer ** Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott * chief medical officer ** Doctor Mark Piper (2265) ** Doctor Leonard H. McCoy (2266-70) * helmsman ** Lieutenant Lee Kelso (2265) ** Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu (2266-70) * communications officer ** Lieutenant Alden (2265) ** Lieutenant Uhura (2266-70) * navigator ** Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell (2265) ** Ensign Pavel Chekov (2267-69) ** Lieutenant Arex (2269-70) * security chief ** Lieutenant Commander Giotto (2267) Appearances *''Star Trek: The Original Series'' *''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' *''Star Trek: The Motion Picture'' *''Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' *''Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' *DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" *ENT: "These Are the Voyages..." Enterprise (NCC-1701) de:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)